Not the happiest Hogmanay in culture, admittedly, but Nick Hornby’s 2005 novel opens with its four main characters accidentally choosing the same London roof to jump from on New Year’s Eve. Their plans for a solitary death ruined, TV host Martin (an Alan Partridge-meets-Richard Madeley figure), lonely single mother Maureen, rudely angsty teenager Jess and failed rock star JJ form a pact, agreeing to postpone their suicides. The story unfolds in unexpected directions from there, involving an angel (who looks like a naked Matt Damon), a long-lost sister and a group holiday to Tenerife. Read the blackly comic book rather than subjecting yourself to last year’s godawful film adaptation.